Kentucky junior Tayshaun Prince made it a sweep of the league’s top honor as he was named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year by The Associated Press on Tuesday. On Monday, Prince won the same honor in voting conducted by the league’s coaches.
Prince, who averages 16.2 points and a team-leading 6.3 rebounds per game, was a unanimous first-team pick. Last year, the 6-9 forward did not appear on any of the AP’s three All-SEC teams.
Teammate Keith Bogans, UK’s leading scorer averaging 16.4 ppg, was a second-team All-SEC pick after earning the same award on the Coaches’ list.
Prince was joined on the AP first team by Alabama’s Rod Grizzard, Florida’s Udonis Haslem and Brett Nelson and Georgia’s D.A. Layne. Prince is the ninth Wildcat to win the award since it was established in 1965.
In SEC play, the Compton, Calif. native finished second in the league in scoring by one point to Nelson, averaging 17.8 ppg, while guiding the Wildcats to their second consecutive SEC Championship. He also led the league in free-throw shooting and finished among the league leaders in field goal percentage, rebounding, assist-to-turnover ratio and blocked shots.
Ole Miss’ Rod Barnes was named the SEC Coach of the Year and Rebels’ freshman Justin Reed was a unanimous selection for the league’s Freshman of the Year honor.
Associated Press All-SEC Team
First Team
Tayshaun Prince, Kentucky*
Brett Nelson, Florida
Udonis Haslem, Florida*
D.A. Layne, Georgia
Rod Grizzard, Alabama
Second Team
Joe Johnson, Arkansas
Jannero Pargo, Arkansas
Keith Bogans, Kentucky
Vincent Yarbrough, Tennessee
Erwin Dudley, Alabama
Third Team
Joe Johnson, Arkansas
Jannero Pargo, Arkansas
Jamison Brewer, Auburn
Marquis Daniels, Auburn
Jason Harrison, Ole Miss
Matt Bonner, Florida
Marius Petravicius, South Carolina
Ron Slay, Tennessee
Anthony Evans, Georgia
Justin Reed, Ole Miss
AP SEC Player of the Year
Tayshaun Prince, Kentucky
AP SEC Coach of the Year
Rod Barnes, Ole Miss
AP SEC Newcomers of the Year
Justin Reed, Ole Miss
* Unanimous Selection
